The Cure: Pornography (Deluxe Edition) - Disc 1 of 2 CD Track Listing

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The Cure Pornography (Deluxe Edition) - Disc 1 of 2 (1982)
Pornography (Deluxe Edition) - Disc 1 of 2\n2005 Rhino Entertainment Company\n\nOriginally Released September 1982\nCD Edition Released February 1988\nDeluxe 2CD Edition Released April 26, 2005\nRemastered 1CD Edition Released April 4, 2006\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: "First time available on CD" is often a way of putting a spin on words like "scraps" or "rubbish." This is the case with the second disc of Rhino's Pornography reissue. Like all the deluxe editions of the Cure's back catalog, the album is packaged with a spectacular layout containing plenty of photos and biographical liner notes, but the decision to compile the band's B-sides on the quadruple-disc Join the Dots -- allowing room for an abundance of lesser material for each album reissue's second disc -- means that a lot of fans will feel short-changed. Many of them only want a few B-sides from a specific era, rather than a box set spanning 24 years and a pile of mere curiosities attached to the new edition of each album. (Doing it the other way around, with the B-sides on the album reissues and the other stuff slapped together for a box set, would've made too much sense; granted, it wouldn't have been the wisest business move.) The second disc here contains half the album in bootleg-quality live form, pulled from a pair of 1982 gigs. Again, only the most rabid followers will want to hear any of these tracks more than once, save for "All Mine," which might be remembered from the cassette-only Curiosity. "Airlock" (a short-film score/extended mood piece, not a patch on Carnage Visors) and a handful of demos are in the same territory, though the demos do highlight the change that came when production help shifted from Michael Hedges to Phil Thornalley. When stacked against their final-version counterparts, the demos are far more gentle and not nearly as sharp. This also indicates why Pornography was in need of remastering for so long; the battering drums and acidic guitars didn't translate so well on the initial CD edition. In fact, a few seconds of "The Hanging Garden" ought to make the second-disc bores forgettable, if not forgivable. -- Andy Kellman\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: (Original CD Edition) Later hailed as one of the key goth rock albums of the '80s and considered by many hardcore Cure fans to be the band's best album, Pornography was largely dismissed upon its 1982 release, witheringly reviewed as a leaden slab of whining and moping. The truth, as usual, is somewhere in between: Pornography is much better than most mainstream critics of the time thought, but in retrospect, it's not the masterpiece some fans have claimed it to be. The overall sound is thick and murky, but too muddy to be effectively atmospheric in the way that the more dynamic Disintegration managed a few years later. For every powerful track like the doomy opener "One Hundred Years" and the clattering, desolate single "The Hanging Garden," there's a sound-over-substance piece of filler like "The Figurehead," which sounds suitably bleak but doesn't have the musical or emotional heft this sort of music requires. Pornography is an often intriguing listen, but it's just a bit too uneven to be considered a classic. -- Stewart Mason\n\nAmazon.com Product Description\nOriginally a Goth-flavored post-punk outfit, the Cure evolved into one of the truly seminal bands of the '80s, and ultimately one of modern rock's most celebrated and influential acts. Guided by creative visionary Robert Smith, the Cure's signature sound balances a dreamy pop savvy with a dark, brooding majesty and fuses superbly crafted, literate songs with a feverish emotional intensity. The band's early catalog-newly remastered and expanded wtih a wealth of rarities-is a series of masterpieces that laid the groundwork for their phenomenal and enduring popularity.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nSounds much better, June 2, 2006\nReviewer: Anonymous Lover of Beauty\n"Pornography" may be the definitive Cure album. The group has had some serious missteps, several lineup changes, all the highs and lows that go with a thirty year history, but this one is on the mark from begining to end. Many fans cite the 1989 masterpiece "Disintergration" as the groups finest hour, and I'll stay out of the debate (personally, I am partial to "Faith", despite its obvious shortcomings)--but if there is such a thing as a Cure aesthetic, it finds some of its best exprression here. The sound is stipped down, ominous interlocking drums and bass. The lyrics are mostly superb. From the opening of the disc, "It doesn't matter if we all die" (can there be a better summation to the group's gestalt?), to the self-referential final lines of the work, there is real passion here. It flirts with solipsism--a characteristic that mars much of their other work--but never quite crosses over. Whether you're 14 and "screaming at the moon", or 40 and covering your face as the animals die, there is poetry enough here.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\na strange and worthwhile day, February 8, 2006\nReviewer: Mind Transmission, Inc. 2012 (the avant garde side of Texas)\nTis truly a mystery how a thoroughly confused and arguably disturbed young man with greatly tousled hair and poorly applied make-up smearing his face could manage to plumb the depths of universal consciousness to create such majesty as this profound album. The lyrics are stirring and emotionally arousing. The song structures seem to mirror the journey of the soul through the corridors of Dante's halls, pulling the listener deeper and deeper into oblivion...and then strangely back up through joy and bliss. \n\nThough I was certainly old enough to enjoy this work when it was first released, it has taken me about twenty years to truly understand its profundity and enduring impact. Having caught the live show "Trilogy" on DVD and having seen The Cure perform live several times through the years, I was amazed at how well these songs have stood up and how beautifully they are now being played by current members of The Cure. This double disc set - which ingeniously includes lots of worthwhile rarities - is the perfect trip down nostalgia lane while opening up your nerve endings to sounds that are ultimately timeless, fresh and oh so powerful. \n\nRobert Smith is our Roger Waters; and coincidentally this work belongs up there on par with Dark Side of The Moon and the other seminal titles that make up the best rock albums of all time. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nMy God, This Is Even More Awful Than the Original!, November 5, 2005\nReviewer: Thomas D. Ryan "American Hit Network" (New York)\nImagine how you would feel if your hands were tied behind your back while somebody held the spinning blades of a screamingly loud gas-powered lawnmower up to your face. That is the sound of 'Pornography'. On this album, the atmospherics of previous albums melt into chaos, until nothing is left but the brain-numbing hum of impending death. I could scream, if only I weren't so bored. \n'Pornography' is the Frankenstein version of 'Faith' and "Seventeen Seconds'. It takes all of the bits that made those albums interesting and good, and renders them into something monstrous and hideous. \nWhile parts of 'Faith' might have sounded like it was recorded underwater, this collection makes me wish that someone would throw a toaster into the tub.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nListen to the drums, June 15, 2005\nReviewer: A Forest Fan (USA)\nA few years back I bought the original CD release of Pornography, to see if there was anything beyond the tracks from Staring at the Sea I liked. I played through it and forgot about, nothing special. So when I bought this re-release (along with the simultaneous rereleases of Faith and Seventeen Seconds) I wasn't expecting much. \n\nBoy was I wrong! This album comes alive with the remasters, just listen to the drums. I think of this as the "angry drum album", because that's what it is. For those who didn't like Pornography, listen to this album at night while driving in your car. Focus on the drums, let them hammer into you. Then you'll get it. \n\nOne Hundred Years sounds about like it does on the Paris concert album, and the drums beat into you as they always do on The Hanging Garden. A real treat is The Figurehead, most familiar to owners of the Paris live album. The drums are just stunning on this one, as Robert's vocals wail on. A Strange Day has an eerie beat reminiscent of early eighties pop in general, but there is that devastating drum again. Finally I love Cold, with a dread organ playing backdrop to the menacing drumbeat. \n\nThe bonus CD has some interesting oddities and some really excellent tracks. It opens with two "mood" demos, Break and Demise, which give you a feel for what went into this album. A real standout is the studio demo of The Figurehead. The arrangements are the same, but spare and without frills. It's good enough to be on my playlist along with the other versions of the song. \n\nThe early version of The Hanging Garden is a great illustration of just what went into Robert Smith's songs. Somewhere along this bland song he said toss it, let rip out something completely different with a hammering drum beat. The live version of Cold is a treat, and sounds great. The live Short Term Effect is so clean I mistook it for a studio jam. \n\nThe album sleeve art and font are distorted and hard to make out, as was obviously the intent. It sums up the mood of the album certainly. (Note that the fonts are different from the two previous album reissues, so this is all deliberate.) If you heard Pornography before and dismissed it, get this remastered edition and hear it as it was meant to be heard, with the drums hammering into your brain!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nHear the Depth and Nuance for the 1st Time, June 14, 2005\nReviewer: SandmanVI (Glen Allen, VA United States)\nThe question for fans will obviously be, "Do I need to buy this remaster or am I all set with the original?" Unfortunately folks you need to reach for the wallet again. I think that enough has been done here to warrant spending your hard-earned cash... who are we kidding - you don't work that hard. Not only have a load of demos and rarities been included, but the remastering has brought out a new level of depth and nuance that you just couldn't hear before. \n\nWhere the original is muddy, the remaster is crystal clear. Of course, one could argue that the muddy production actually helped to create the dense wall of sound that made this album so intimidating in the first place. Well that is true to be sure. However, that's part of the amazing thing about this. In all of the clean-up effort, the opaqueness of the original is never lost. You will still feeel as though you are lost in a forest of despair; the difference now is that you'll be able to tell the difference between the fog and the cobwebs instead of sensing just one hazy mass of white gauze. You can hear how each synth bar decays with time. You can discern the subtle variances between several different electronic string instrument tones that may coexist at the same moment. The effects on the guitar and bass jump off the page now. \n\nI've tacked on my review of the original here at the end to decribe the music for new fans... \n\nUnquestionably this was Robert Smith's darkest hour. This 8-track release is oppressive in its bleak attack. It deserves 5 stars due to its sheer brilliance and originally; nothing ever sounded like this before or since. But for newcomers reading these great reviews be forewarned - I did not use the word oppressive by accident. Every moment of 'Pornography' is black, despairing and tortured. If you are on the verge of suicide this could be a rope thrown to save you or it could be a mack truck with a plow on the front driving you further over the edge. If you can get past that then what you will find is a stunningly creative album that creates some of the most sepulchral music ever heard. \n\nThe band at this time was stripped down to 3 members: Smith on vocals and guitar and keyboards, Simon Gallup on bass, and Lawrnece Tolhurst on drums. Strangely it may have been Tolhurst's lack of musical talent (an issue that would later get him fired) that created much of the atmosphere. The drumming is very flat and mechanical sounding creating an absolutely dead feel throughout; even sound dies as the stick hits the skins. Smith's vocals sound desperate and often deranged filled with lurid, bizzare imagery. Gallup's bass is potent and overwhelming in a style that only he could pull off. \n\nMy favorites are "One Hundred Years" with its sense of desperation and unrequited longing. "A Short Term Effect" is saturated with doom as the characters of the song try to laugh in the face of what may come, "Something small falls out of your mouth and we all laugh". "A Strange Day" is angst-ridden but with something bordering on beauty buried deep within. Finally the title track is an complete descent into madness, as the closer on an album like this should be. \n\nOne of the greatest black-to-the-core albums ever and arguably the darkest. The Sisters of Mercy came close with the rare 'Reptile House EP', but that work is more of an exploration of drug-addicted frustration where this is just suffocating hopelessness.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nFinally. Done the right way, May 12, 2005\nReviewer: J. Brady (PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States)\nIf "Faith" is the sound of the Cure standing on the edge of a cliff, wondering what would be next if they jumped right into the darkness, "Pornography" is the soundtrack for the ascent into the abyss. Pornography has long been my absolute favourite Cure album, but the sound on the cd originally released by Elektra left much to be desired. It is muffled, muddy and heavily mid-range, with nary a high or low to be found in the sound mix. This remaster just blows me away. Propers to the folks at Rhino - you did it again. The sound is intense, rich and full. The bass drum in Siamese Twins rattles my ribs. The guitars in A Hundred Years tear out of the speakers. The strings in Cold wrap me in a warm blanket. Topping it off is the bonus disc. It is much better than I thought it would be. The demos are incredibly varied and the changes in the arrangements, the lyrics, and the overall sound are fascinating. The Hanging Garden, in particular, sounds nothing like the finished version, and the demo of what later became Let's Go to Bed makes me wish it had been recorded that way, instead of the lite funk it turned into. An amazing album. This is the way reissues should be done.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Vision of Hell, May 7, 2005\nReviewer: A. Cook "Mr. Pink-Eye" (New York, NY)\nA good starting point for new fans of The Cure. This brilliant CD is much more than a downer: Pornography depicts a desperate scream for salvation from the deepest pits of depravity; images of the grotesque ("scarred/ your back was turned/ curled like an embryo") only emphasize the submerged humanity trying to claw its way out ("her legs around me... / in the morning I cried"). The sound, with Phil Thornally at the helm, is ugly, sharp, pounding, and surprisingly accessible. CD2 offers a few worthwhile live tracks, but the highlight is definitely the instrumental "Airlock," a macabre and cannibalistic Punch & Judy show. But you should own this for the remastering on CD1, which is a vast improvement over the previous muddy digitization. \n\nIf your knowledge of The Cure begins and ends with pop radio singles, then this early album will put their later work in perspective. You may finally appreciate the redemptive potential of a dizzy pop ditty like "Friday I'm in Love" when you understand that "Thursday I don't care about you" means "one more day like today and I'll kill you/ I'll watch you drown in the shower." \n\nIs it any wonder that "The Lovecats" came next? \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nEarly masterpiece., May 3, 2005\nReviewer: Michael Stack (Chelmsford, MA USA)\nAs each album had been getting progressively darker, there seemed little room for the Cure to go after "Faith", but "Pornography" found something new-- Robert Smith (guitar, vocals, keys), Simon Gallup (bass, keys), and Lol Tolhurst (drums, keys) constructed something dark, edgy, and frightening, taking the haunted mood of the last album and adding aggression and noise. The guitars have become more distorted and louder, and the drums have been moving into a somewhat more tribal pattern. The result is something much more in your face than anything the Cure had done. \n\nNowhere is this more obvious than the opener, probably best summed by the line "waiting for the death blow", "One Hundred Years" is full of edgy guitars and despondant passion. This sort of passionate delivery is a thread throughout the album-- take the powerful invocation of "I will never be clean again" on "The Figurehead" (over a great tribal drum pattern from Tolhurst) or the plodding but effective "Siamese Twins", rescued by a great Smith vocal. \n\nWhile the album is pretty dark, it does get fairly varied-- "A Strange Day" seems almost optimistic (if you don't listen too closely to what Smith is singing) and the album does cover a number of moods, from rock ("One Hundred Years") to pseudo-ambient ("A Short Term Effect") to a sort of gothic progressive rock ("Cold"). Start to finish, its a fantastic album, and unlike many albums with a somewhat unvaried mood, this one is quite listenable. \n\nAs the rest of the Cure remasters, the sound is fantastic, crisp, clean, showing every nuance of the music and allowing its expressiveness to breathe. Again, the liner notes include a candid and honest essay about the creation of the album and the tour that followed, and a disc of bonus material is included. The demos, given the sort of bleak production of the music, are often quite telling on this one, and the live material is nothing short of fantastic, although the sound quality in both cases is not letter perfect for obvious reasons, but given the strength of the material, it carries through well enough. \n\nIf you're new to the Cure but used to kind of odd music, this might be a good place to start, its certainly one of their peaks, and thsi reissue only makes it sound better.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nJust A Porn In The Game, April 30, 2005\nreviewer: jap (maine / usa) \nIt cannot be disputed that Pornography is one of the Cure's best albums until Kiss Me came along. So why does this release get one star when the remastering is great on this classic album? \n\nThe bonus disc is pure junk whith many alternative repeats. This detracts from the great first disc. If my son picked out this album and played disc two first he might wonder why I had it in my collection. The Cure shot their load by releasing the Join The Dots collection - leaving nothing worthwhile (excluding Carnage Visitors on Faith)to add as bonuses. Join The Dots never should have been released - that material should have made it onto the bonus discs. When they release Kiss Me it will never be like the original album as it is split up onto Join The Dots. The bonus material might be better as they were acomplished producers and musicians by that point. \n\nThe books are hard to read due to the color and type (yes I am older now than when i first purchased the album.) The paper is also thin and cheap. \n\nWhy can Elvis Costello release his catalogue with a bonus disc of 20 viable songs and packaging for 14.99? The Cure's is almost 10 dollars more. That is the real pornography. Ever feel like youve been had? \n\nHalf.com Details \nProducer: Phil Thornally, The Cure \n\nAlbum Notes\nThe Cure: Robert Smith (vocals, guitar, cello, keyboards); Simon Gallup (keyboards, bass guitar, background vocals); Laurence Tolhurst (keyboards, drums, percussion, background vocals).\n\nEngineers: Phil Thornally, Mike Nocito, Robert Smith.\n\nRecorded at Rak Studio One, London, England.\n\nFor a band that's known worldwide as the premier purveyors of goth-rock gloom and doom (though hardly incapable of sparkling pop gems), it's no small thing to identify a particular album as their darkest, most disturbing sonic statement. Nevertheless, PORNOGRAPHY surely fills the bill. Reportedly created during a time of great psychological upheaval for group leader Robert Smith, it's a gloriously no-holds-barred existential angst-fest, from the very first line, "It doesn't matter if we all die." Not since Leonard Cohen's SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE had despair been so lovingly ladled into album form, but it's not just Smith's Prozac prescription that was upped during these sessions. His lyrical approach expanded as well, incorporating more stream-of-consciousness poetic imagery. And the rhythmic attack of bassist Simon Gallup and drummer Lol Tolhurst reached new heights of propulsiveness and viscerality as well, whether pounding out a churning syncopation on "The Hanging Garden" or delivering the heavy-hammered nail in the coffin on "A Short Term Effect."\nThis remastered edition features a 14-track bonus disc of rarities that includes numerous demos, studio outtakes, and live performances.\n\nIndustry Reviews\nWhere all aspiring new-wavers go to study enunciation.\n\n5 stars out of 5 - Smith's unearthed demos and live tracks from this period do not prepare you for the pure shock and awe of PORNOGRAPHY. Even today, nothing can.\n\n[A] druggy steel-cage match between death-disco drums and tarnished hooks that's somehow still fun to shimmy to.\n\n4 stars out of 5 - [T]his goth milestone brings the heaviness of metal without its clich

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